Sparse this week:

• Mack and I went to a preview of the upcoming California Wine Tasting at deVine Wines on Friday. For a nominal $20 donation between the two of us, we sampled four wines, and had we stuck around longer, probably could have tried even more flights. Well worth it!
• Select Edmonton restaurants are participating in the annual Dining Out for Life fundraiser to help those living with HIV/AIDS.
• The Edmonton Journal’s Style section introduced Calgary-based Julie Van Rosendaal’s blog, dinner with Julie. It does have great pictures and good meal ideas, but I’m sure a portion of the readers check in just to see the photos of her too-cute son helping out in the kitchen.
• Culinary coup: Toronto’s Susur Lee will be heading to the restaurant hotbed of Manhattan to open up an eatery in a Lower East Side Hotel. While I can’t say that I’m that familiar with his cuisine, one of my must-read bloggers is very sad to see him go.
• Burger King will be opening “Whopper Bars” in the U.S. that won’t serve alcohol so much as make a customizable burger for you. Hm.

A supersized version to make up for a lack of food notes last week:

• I’ve been found: Kerstin’s Chocolates linked to my blog post about The Cocoa Room on the News events of their website.
• Rumor, as reported by Bob Mac on Chowhound: “the folks from Luxe are opening a lounge in the space below the reovated condos formerly occupied by Terry Vaugn’s Sports Bar.” Hmm…
• Edmonton has a new-ish independent coffee house: The Wired Cup (9418 91 Street) is part cafe (serving coffee made from Transcend beans and tea from Steeps) and part gift store.
• Speaking of coffee, Starbucks announced their acquisition of The Coffee Equipment Company, makers of the $11,000 Clover coffee maker. Besides phasing in Clover machines into their stores, they will also be introducing a rewards program and an online community.
• Judy Schultz was back this week with a Bistro column on the Grueneberg family behind Greens, Eggs and Ham.
• I like the idea of alternative dining areas – in Calgary, Vue Cafe offers art alongside their open kitchen, and the Calgary Zoo offers brunch on Sundays!
• If you’re looking for a local farmer’s market to tide you over until the City Centre resumes operation in May, look no further than the Salisbury Greenhouse in Sherwood Park. A list of about 30 vendors is here (I love that they’ve done their best to take pictures of the majority of the vendors as well).
• Via Serious Eats, a quote in the New Yorker worth considering from chef David Chang on the internal pressures he faces: “It’s not that I’m not happy; I’m just fearful for the future. I’m fearful that everything’s gonna be taken away. Fear is a driving force for most of the things that I do. I don’t know if that’s healthy.” So honest.
• Chang is one of the five chefs nominated in the “Best Chef: NYC” category for the prestigous James Beard Awards. Nice to see Gramercy Tavern nominated, if not only because I had the privilege of eating there in December, and even nicer to see Canadian Trish Magwood’s book Dish Entertains up for an award.
• After reading what a New York Times writer did with food purchased from local 99cent stores, I’m tempted to attempt a similar experiment.
• Iron Chef America is being turned into a video game. It was only a matter of time, I guess. But then again, if I can “be” Bobby Flay, I can’t say I wouldn’t give it a try!
• I can’t speak highly enough of Route 99 Diner (8820 99 Street). Comfortable, clean, offering good service and greasy spoon favorites, if you need a quick meal, look no further than Route 99. Here are a few photos to whet your appetite:

Grilled Ham & Cheese

Pepperoni & Mushroom Pizza

Poutine

• They should have called it Truth: Impossible: it seems Dinner: Impossible host Robert Irvine lied about his credentials and some of his experience, leading to his release from the hit Food Network show.
• A coup for Canada: Daniel Boulud will be assisting in the transformation of the space once occupied by Feenie’s. The best thing about the article is Rob Feenie’s quote where he celebrates his own greatness: “Do you think he came cheap? If this is the only way they can replace me, that’s great.”
• An amusing rant against the 100-mile diet phenomenon in The Province.
• I’ve been looking for food blogs to add to my reading repetoire, and this one caught my eye. I especially like her “Mom Series” – posts written as a tribute to her Mom’s traditional Chinese home cooking.
• Avenue Magazine’s March edition is all about food. Check out this comprehensive list of local dinner preparation kitchens.
• Also from Avenue, a spotlight on Pizzaria Prego (5860 111 Street). I will have to get myself to Lendrum Mall soon to try their Sunrise pie. Made with tomato sauce, mozzarella, bacon, scrambled egg, cheddar and tomatoes, it would be like having breakfast for dinner!

• Mack pointed me to an article by Stephanie Vacher about how to take better food photos. Worth a read.
• Ching’s Asian Kitchen & Dim Bar (yes, “dim bar”) has taken over the storefront that used to be occupied by Nikita’s (10162 100A Street).
• A restaurant in Dorset, England, has instituted an “anti-price”, pay-what-you-want menu on Wednesday and Thursday evenings in an attempt to increase patron numbers. I wonder how it will work out in the long run, but the owner isn’t worried. From the article, the owner is quoted as saying: “I believe that the majority of people are fair if you give them good food, a good time and a nice place. People are quite on the ball on prices and are within a couple of quid of the normal prices.”
• Project CHEF, a program that uses cooking as a medium to teach children in elementary school about nutrition, among other things, is a model that should be emulated across the country.
• It’s better in Calgary: Cowtown’s Dine-Out event spans the entire city, with over three times the number of participants when compared with Edmonton’s version. Moreover, it is unacceptable that the relatively few participating restaurants in our city either haven’t bothered to submit their menus, or the website maintenance staff haven’t bothered uploading them. I do think Edmonton’s culinary scene does itself a disservice by essentially offering two competing tasting events (Original Fare’s Forkfest and Downtown’s Dine-Out).
• Via Serious Eats, an article from the Village Voice that reveals the true “reality” of Iron Chef America. Sure, the recipes might be rehearsed, but it still takes a heck of a lot of creativity and skill to execute the plan just so. In any case, I will still be watching.
• I can’t say I know all of the food professionals cited in the first annual Clog Awards, but the concept surrounding some of them are pretty funny (e.g. The Cat Cora Award for most fame based on least actual culinary achievement).
• While I do think the drip coffee at Starbucks is consistently better than what is available at Second Cup, I have to give kudos to the Second Cup in Telus Centre, which always has incredibly *hot* brewed coffee.
• I feel like such a McDonald’s fangirl reporting this, but their Cinnamon Melts are now available at branches outside of those in Wal-Marts. They are a whooping 460 calories, but are worth every icing-coated bite. Yum.

• Think twice before dipping: an article in the Journal of Food Safety warns about the amount of bacteria that may be present in the communal dip bowl. The best quote from the article is from Professor Dawson, who proposed the study, “‘…before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here? Because you don’t know who might be double dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you.'”
• From a very cute blog called Cupcakes Take the Cake: Chinese New Year cupcakes (with what looks like gold leaf!), Super Mario-themed cupcakes (the mushroom is too clever), and a very elegant Neopolitan cupcake (this recipe is definitely a keeper).
• Rob Feenie is no longer unemployed: as reported in the Globe & Mail, he will be the “food concept architect” for the Vancouver-based Cactus Club Cafe chain of restaurants. I can’t help but think he is biding his time until opening up another restaurant of his own, even though Feenie claims this isn’t a “step down”, so to speak.
• Speaking of Vancouver, a recent episode of Giada’s Weekend Getaways saw the host touring the city’s sites. She avoids the Robson area altogether, opting to visit spots in the more locally-trendy neighbourhoods, including Yaletown, Gastown, and Granville Island. While her visit to Lumiere was friendly, the waiter serving her was a tad too distant, and while out at Vij’s, she and her friend were actually served by Vikram Vij himself (sure, they don’t cater to celebrities…). Salt Tasting Room, a wine bar, looked pretty cool, and would be a place I would consider visiting.
• Had questions about favorite foods of the U.S. Presidential candidates? Wonder no more. (The Associated Press article is also a good read – Giuliani’s hidden talent made me laugh.)